Final Blog Reflection

Edm310 has taught me many things. From all the devices i have come accustomed to using, to the critically thinking about different aspects of education in its entirety. But what i've most come to appreciate most from class is the interaction I've taken part in with my fellow peers and educators about how to change the way we teach or students so that they are getting the most out of their learning environment and are better to prepared to adopt to our ever changin world. There isn't anything that i wanted to learn that i didn't. I think the class covered enough to help an up and coming teacher become more technologically literate. I was always excited to come to class. Because I can use these tools in and out the class. I did get bored with all the different blogs because blogging with so many different people made me get lost with all the conversations i was having. If i could change one thing it would be commenting on three different things at the same time every week on top of our blog. My technology literacy is at a good level. I will try my hardest to use every tool available to give myself the best opportunity to become a well-rounded teacher.

Interview

Substantive Presentation

Showing him how Skype works

April 25th

Everyone has different combinations and preferences for their social networks but they all revolve around the same job which is helping people learn and also teach others. This student uses her PLN similarly to mine by letting it be reviewed by peers to make sure her info is correct. She also uses it to teach others, like how she did with explaining the difference between being poisonous and having venom. I do the same thing when i use my social networks to explain how certain social networks work like twitter and blogging in my blogs.

The second video asked "what is my sentence?" and "I'm i better today than i was yesterday?". I think my sentence would be "He got his bachelors in physical education and taught thousands of kids how to become healthier people." With the second question i would have to say no. I have a bad habit with taking days off. Kind of one of my problems on the football field too.

Comments 4teachers 10, 12

I commented on Candice Follis's post about a handout she read called the "Reciprocal Teaching".

http://follisfiles.wordpress.com/

Google Docs Survey

Here is the link to my Survey.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsGEo3697y5edFR0SFJqY1dxcHNKRlh2MDliczdOdUE&hl=en

Google Earth Tour

Comments 4teachers wk 7,8,9

Commented on Mr. Ferriter's article on questions to ask before buying IWBs

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2010/04/5-questions-to-ask-before-buying-iwbs.html#comments

Comments 4kidz wk 10

I watched and commented on a video done my a 5th grade class in New Zealand's. They made a video of the pictures they took around their school and had an audio explaining it.

http://spxroom6.blogspot.com/search/label/A'Leina

April 18th

Teachers and facebook unite!

Can teachers and facebook work together? It would seem that these two advisaries have engaged in a war that has been going on for years now. I know from my personal experiences that facebook is probably the biggest distraction for college students hands down! And by the loks of things i don't see students coming anywhere close to stopping their usage of it, at least as long as its free. In our EDM 310 class we have witnessed how many internet social networks are being incorporated in the learning process. But i haven't seen facebook being used as much as other social networks and i always wondered why. If schools and teachers could somehow use this network to their advantage i think they could impact millions of people.

Students spend tons of time on the computer. Whether it's doing homework or socializing with social networks, or surfing the web the fact of the matter is there online constantly. If educational departments say had a facebook page where their teacehers interacted with students and posted information about school work i think they would receive tremendous feedback. Its so much more convenient for students because they are facebook more than any other network so the are more likely to see and respond. I can even see it replacing emailing.

Vocaroo

My Skype'n

Skype is a program that allows users to communicate with eachother incorporating chat, webcam, or telephones to talk to one another. I use Skype to talk to my friends back in Florida and a few who live in other parts of Alabama.

Timeline Toast

This is a timeline of a few things I have done this week so far.

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/49945

April 11th Blog

There are many benefits for students in blogging their work. When a student post work on the world wide web he is able to get feedback from so many minds, including fellow peers and professors from across the globe. Also, it inspires others on a much more broader scale so they effect of it can teach millions of people instead of hundreds or thousands. Thus, putting your work on a blog is like putting work up on a chalkboard and the internet is a classroom with millions of seats.

The Dear Kaia blog sparked the interest of a couple of U.S. teachers and classrooms and encouraged more involvement of parents with their child's learning.
http://dearkaia.blogspot.com/2009/09/first-photo-essay.html

Another example is the blog of Morgan Bayda. Her blog caught the attention of our teacher and this actually lead to a Skype discussion with her and our class where we learned about how a person just beginning their careerer in the education field values and uses technology to teach as well as learn.
http://morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/

In the NPR news blog, they educated people about the cautions of using Wkipedia as a credible source of research because of how easy it is for people to change it so its information favors a certain group's opinion instead of being completely factual.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2007/08/whos_been_messin_with_my_wikip.html

Student blogging educates people outside the classroom while also obtaining feedback from millions of readers over the world. This creates a learning cycle that extends far beyond the limits of teh four wall classrooms.

April 4th

Kaia's Blog, Dear Kaia, and Singing Hearts are all connected together by the story a young girl and her father's attempt to use technolgy to explore and learn about the world outside their house. But with the help of documenting it on the internet, their exploration has inspired teachers and classrooms all over the world.

Even thought she is only 3 years old what she is doing is a small version of what professional photographers do. Simple adventures outside become the foundation to a learning process that children carry with them into the schools and workplace. Asking questions, critically thinking about the answers, finding new ways to look at old things are all products produce by the curiousity of a persons mind.

What sticks out to me the most are two areas of these events. The first is how even at 3 years of age technolgy can greatky aid in a child's learning. The other is how technolgy is a great tool for children and parents to work together in stimulating their child's learing. With more interaction from parents, it will make a teachers job that much more lighter of a load.

Comments 4 kids week 9

In this weeks comment for kids i viewed a video about bullying done by a girl named jessica and her classmates on bullying. It was very entertaining and they are some good actors. Especially the bullies.

Comment 4 Kidz WK 8

I commented on a girl named Cristal's poem about her feeling like a slave. Her poem is on Ms. Shelter's blog site

March 28th

An Open Letter to Educators
In early humanity only the privileged and select few were able to obtain knowledge, while most people were left in the dark with no means of access to this treasure called information. But with the invention of the internet, information has been freed to be obtained by anyone. Although this decreases the value of information because it is more commonly found, it also creates more convienent ways for peolpe to get and use it. Dan Brown uses the example of how before the internet people had to use globes and atlases to plan trips. With the internet all you have to do now is plot in your location and destination and it gives you instant directions and seconds.

The most significant fact that Dan pointed out was that we as students are programmed to come into class and memorize facts and how well we memoize these facts determines how smart we are. But in todays age, the value of being good at memorizing facts is alomst pointless because of the internet. Now everyone has instant access to facts thanks to the internet. We are wasting a lot of time teaching students this way.
I've been in college for about 3 years now and it amazes me how i can pass classes without ever having to buy the books for them. I can just google any information i need and the informations is just as accurate.

March 7th

The first part he emphasises is the importance of the fundamentals. Fundamental are like the framework, the foundation of every persons house of learning. You can not build a strong, stable house without having your fundamentals together. This principle is found true any many places. Like the example he uses with Football. I play football and the first thing they teach you before anything is the fundamentals so you can build on those and move on to the more advance skills and techniques. And the same rules apply for learning and teaching in the classroom as well.

He talks about the brick walls as metaphors comparing them to the rejection people face when they are turned down. He says that these brick walls are there not to turn you away but to test how bad you want something. Everyone didn't get the dream the first time around but those who really wanted it kept knocking until that door finally opened.

He talks about handing over things you are so attached to. And these could be students who you've been teaching for years that you are really fond of, but aren't coming along like they should be. He believes that when you have to let these things go, that you make sure it's to someone who can take better care of them. I agree with this because as teachers we are very caring for our students, but we can't solve all their problems alone. Sometimes you do all you can and if that's not working than find someone who can do more for them.


The last part I wanted to mention is that he was saying how important it was to help people. Everyone needs help, even you. Kids are going to need your help teaching them, caring for them, and disciplining them. Other teacher are going to need your help on advice on how teach to teach a lesson or on some creative ways to teach it. Your going to need help when you run out of supplies and need to borrow from the teacher next door. Everyone helps each other. That's the power of a team because together everyone achieves more.

Feb 28th

This is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2
If you think about how in the past when your parents and grandparents where in school, you will come across a ton of difficulties that they ran into that modern technolgy has made a hundred times more convienent for its users. Take for instance how those generations had to find information by going to a local or school library and search for books that might contain the answer they need. This process was extremely time consuming especially if the libraries didnt have the books necessary. Or what about when they wanted to communicate to a friend or relative that lived overseas? They had to pay some kind of charge just for a simple conversation of "how have you been".

Thanks to technology, these issues have become minor inconviences. Now all you need is a computer and internet access and you can enjoy looking up plenty of information and talk to people all over the world about any subject. Think about all the great speeches that were recorded, like Dr. Kings "I have a dream" speech. People in my generation could never hear it without the use of technology. It enables us to experience events that we were not able to witness.

In our blog assisgnment it asked if we will be prepared to write with multimedia and will our students be able to. I know that multimedia technolgy could be very useful to me as a teacher and as a learner so i am trying to absorb everything i can from my EDM310 class because it is showing me a whole new way to communicate, teach, and learn. My students will most likely be able to use multimedia because as technology assimulates into the classes, they will be familiar with it at an earlier age.


Networked Student
Being connected to millions of individuals can have tremendous advantages. You can communicate with the minds of people who are already in the career you want to be in or with people who are trying to get into the career. Either way you can all learn from eachother, building off of what the other one knows to construct a good foundation of education principles and techniques.

Connectivism can be very beneficial but i wonder if it will effectively teach our students alone. Putting the sole responsibility on the student to find information can backfire because you never know who the student is networking with. It could be someone who isn't who they say they are which is a major problem when communicating with people on the internet.

This style of learning also changes the role of the teacher from a primary source of knowledge to a educational guider and a model of they way to build your personal learning network. With me being a P.E. teacher, I'm sure that they number of students i have could prevent me from making sure every student knows exactly what they're doing. I could use a network of instructional videos that teach students certain sports and/or about the body and how it works as a system, so students can learn on their own time in case they didn't get everything in class.

Toward A New Future of Whatever
We have so much freedom of choice in America. Dr. Wesch spoke about the reasons why people in my generation feel so confident and impowered. I can see how this feeling of importance and deserving of attention and recognition has been installed into our brains by the media. They sell us electronics for our pleasure, produce bigger vehicles with more power just for us, and want us idolize music artist for their "its all about me/i do what i want" rockstar attitudes. So i think it has completely spoiled us. But i'm right along with them so i have to point the finger at myself too.

The Media is going to have a enormous affect on us and our students as teachers. Its going to determined what's acceptable to wear, what's acceptable to eat, what's acceptable to drive, etc etc. In other words, you and your students will be judged through the media's standards.

Personally I enjoy using and being envolved with media tools because you can feel apart of a world much larger than your small town local friendly faces you see everyday.

Comments 4 kids summary

In Mr.McClungs World blog i commented on his blog about Arkansas being the 2nd most unhappiest state. He gave some facts about how they have a very high divorce rate (2nd only to Nevada) and have no professional sports team.

For seem reason i wasn't able to get access to Patrick D's blog for some reason because the computer kept telling me i was looking for something that wasn't here.

In Ms. Toa's class i commented on a girl named Lauren's post on her haiku poem. The poem was very good too as she wrote about her moving to China from the U.S.

Feb 21

I decided to blog on a couple of Dr. Alice Christie's points and how it could benefit me as a physical education teacher. I want to point a couple points that i agree with. First is the philosophy that teachers create such environments to facilitate learning and provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-evaluation. As the teacher it is ultimately your job to create a successful place of learning for your students. As a P.E. teacher, that could mean having activities organized and playing/teaching games to students that will emphasize teamwork, critical thinking, and good sportsmanship.

Another point is that she states learning is reflective and incorporates feedback from teachers (co-learners) and peers. This could mean to encourage communication for strategizing and such between students especially ones on the same team. Students learning to collaborate with eachother is an essential part of making learning more dynamic and flexible. These tools can be very beneficial to learners going into an ever-changing world.

My thoughts on the iTunes Universitiy are surprising very positive after visiting this websites article on them (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16624-itunes-university-better-than-the-real-thing.html?haasFormId=f9768f0e-e55c-439a-b647-e3a56f64a4f7&haasPage=0) On figured students who listened to podcast lectures were just lazy students who didn't want to go to class, but the article stated that those students were receiving higher exam scores so it seems they are effective in some scenerios. As a student i would be willing to listen to podcast lectures because i miss parts of the lecture, trying listen and write at the same time while thinking about what's being said so i can put the pieces together on my own.

As a teacher it would probably make your job easier because you aren't having to repeat things to students as much or email individual students what they missed so much when a student misses classes, but rather just record everything you want them to know and have them all get itune acounts so they can obtain the lectures when needed. It also helps keep students who have to miss class for important reasons a way to stay with the class and not have so many students get behind in class because missing one day in college can hurt you.

http://news.duke.edu/2005/12/ipodupdate.html, this link is on the usage of ipods in Duke University's classrooms since being implimented in 2004. Apparently it was the beginning move of the Universities attempt to incorporate more digital technology campus wide. From ipods to videos, audios, and online collaboration tools, Duke has noticed that the increase comfort level with digital devices has increased studying outside the classroom. The article states that in intends to continue to support a broad range of technology use.

Feb 14th

What I've learned this year
In his blog, Mr. McClung talks about tips he has learned over the years of being a teacher. Advice like making your lessons centered toward your audience not just curriculum. Being flexible even if it means going against something your accustomed to. Communicating about issues instead of repressing them. Remembering that you're teaching kids, not adults and try and think like they do because they think different than adults. Also to use technology and listen to your students like showing interests in their lives. And most importantly never stop learning because we work in a learning envoronment.

Using all these tips can definetly help make your early teaching experience less of a bumpy one. Some teachers don't pick up these things until later in their careers but learning them earlier will make you a better teacher and a more successful one too. My favorite piece of advice is telling upcoming teachers to remember students are kids not adults, so they think differently than teachers and you must take that into account when trying to reach them.

Mii presentation

Feb 7th

Comments 4 Kids
I can't help to be excited to see kids doing such fun things in the classroom. I enjoy a classroom with smiling faces and i enjoy it even more if they were smiling about something education related. It brings a good, positive attitude to the room and makes is easier to interact and cooperate with them. A positive about doing hands-on activities like the kids were doing in the video is that you remember them better than you do things you read.

Langwitches Blog
It seems to me that the biggest positive of a podcast is that because computers are almost everywhere in our society it is extremely convienent for students and parents to access them, especially for the families that have their own computers at home. This could lead to easier ways for kids to practice and listen to lessons learned once they leave the classroom and their parents can also be present with them to help comprehend.

Of course there are poor families who can't afford personal computers and can only access podcast in libraries and schools. But i think that there can be ways to work around such obstacles in order to let every child benefit from technology and not just the privileged. I don't have much experience with Podcast and Vodcast but from what i've heard and seen they seem to be good, creative tools that are simple enough to use for even the earliest of learners.

Jan. 31st blogs

This video makes me laugh. I can't even believe this video is even real but i'm sure he's not the only one year old kid who can operate basic functions on an iphone. And what's even funnier is that i bet that he can operate it better than alot of older people, including my technological illiterate mother. This video proves that you don't have to be a genius to be able to use technology and that should make consumers and users feel more comfortable about using them.
But thats the beauty of technology. It can be used and understood by anybody regardles of age or gender or race. This kid isn't even in school yet but with the help of technology he is learning and building cognitive skills at the age of one! Learning things that people our age is learning and I think it will be beneficial to him in the long run.

When i was in 3rd grade, the only thing we probably did on the computer were some sort of learnig game and even that was probably once a week at the most. The "Little Kids. . Big Potential" by Ms. Cassidy's class seems like the best 3rd grade class in the world. It's hard to believe that these kids can do things that I don't know how to do and i'm over twice their age. I wish every 2nd grade student could enjoy what her class does but we all know how expensive technology is.
I think a great thing about using new technology is that it gives students something to look forward to in school. A student will actually be more eager to learn which will make teaching them easier. I wish high school classes got away from just doing the normal routine with learning from books because somethings can be learned more effectively through people's conversations and interactions with eachother.

First off i'm going to say these students did a very good job on the presentation. I'm very impressed. I'm a pretty Media Literate guy, but i know lots of people who would stuggle with what thse kids are doing. Learnning to evaluate and ask questions goes beyond just school but into the job and home life. I know i'm not ready to teach students like this yet, i'm a little behind on some technology but i would love to come to work if we got to do that in our classroom.
It makes me wonder what kind of students they will turn out to be in high school and college. Will these tools being implimented in them carry on through their academic careers because i think it will honestly.

Jan 24th

Michael Wesch's "A Vision of Students Today" gives the viewers many different facts about how much time students spend during their day, how much money they spend on school related objects, and other various statistics. All center around how relevant is the learning we are receiving from teachers compared to the learning we are getting when we are in our everyday environments such as the internet, our cell phones, our jobs etc.
A lot of things the video stated i can testify to their truth. I don't buy a book unless i know I'm going to use it first. Most of the people I know spend a lot of time on the computer too. So if you think about it, i wonder how effective this system is because we deal with problems and situations that change daily. Yet we are taught strategies and material that has stayed the same, that solved problems of the past not of the future. Sitting in a classroom an listening to somebody summarize and explain a subject that you yourself will read, and memorize a lot more n your own. Classrooms should prepare you for much more than just memorizing. Because once we graduate and find jobs, how well we interact with others,communicate, and solve problems seem to be just as important.

My opinion on Kelly Hines "It's not about technology" is one of agreement but with a few alterations. I think that subjects being taught to students should be up to date matters. Things that are being studied, discovered, invented, and experimented with now should be focused on more. If our jobs are to prepare students for jobs then lets get them used to working. Not just with technology but with day to day problems and obstacles to.
To do this the teachers have to take on the responsibilities of teaching students until they are taught. This forces them to find the most effective ways inorder not to waste time and money. Because teachers should know about the things students are dealing with. It will help them better understand thier students, thus making them better teachers. That is what we will need if we want better students. I do think that technology should be a main focus though just because of the amount of time we spend dealing with it forces us to. Think about how often your parent sits infront of a computer or communicates with her coworkers on forming strategies at work.

Fisch's, "Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?" he feels that a teacher who isn't technologically literate is useless in today's world. And he really is. I still believe that with the amount o time and money we put into technology it is crucial that we understand it and also work to better it. The world we live is built on competition and we must equip our students to compete with the best. I'm pretty sure China is very familiar with technology and other countries too. That is who our kids are competing against.

Gary's Social Media Count is fascinating to me. The numbers showing the constant increase in web usage as we speak seems kind of scary to think of what the numbers will be like down the road. If you think about all that is generated from the web and how much its grown in the last decade,just imagine what it will like in the next ten years. Because it WILL continue to grow and change and that's a fact. So we better be ready for t as teachers.

Jan 17th posts

The world is advancing faster than ever before and if your not keeping up with it you will wake up one day in a world that you don't recognize. In the Did you know video by Karl Wasch, he talks about how the world has changed and is continuing to in various aspects. From jobs to text messaging, companies are trying to keep up with large demands of the consumers. Basically, this means that we as future employers and employees will be plunged into this hectic progression rate so we must constantly be up on technological advances in order to keep up with competition.
I think that it is very important to be aware of the major changes that occur in the world market. For one reason, you need to know what's being improved. You need to know what opportunities are being created and what ones are being closed. With knowledge comes power, the power to control your future even more so than you could before. So understanding what jobs will be valued most, or how many people are using facebook and myspace can aid you in making future decisions.

The video "Mr. Winkle Wakes" by Matthew Needleman, is about a man waking up from a hundred year slumber into the 21st century modern age. It uses animation to show the school systems lack of usage of technology compared to other facilities. Mr. Winkle feels uncomfortable in the office at work, and in the hospital because of how heavily the use computers. But when he got to school near the end of the video he smiles after being in the classroom because it is still exactly how he remembers it. All lecturing and note taking with no technology being incorporated. He ends the video with a smile, glad that schools are still the same way he remembers it a hundred years ago.
Although the school Mr. Winkle went to didn't use any technology in their classroom, i would have to think that way of teaching is slowly but surly dieing out. In this past decade, i have experienced an increase in incorporating technology usage me teachers and classrooms. From computer classes teaching web design, to teachers writing math equations on smart boards. As technology improves and is assimilated into our daily world, schools have taken this into consideration and encouraged teachers and students to be familiar with them. Sorry Mr. Winkle, but i think you just picked the bad apple in the bunch.

After just listening to Ken Robinson's lecture on how school kills creativity, i want to point out the things i agree and disagree with. First off i do believe that the way the board of education is centralizing school teaching around test taking(especially in K-12) is strangling the creativity in children. And because of the unpredictability of the world we live in and the different obstacles that we face it would seem a child's creativity would come in handy more that their literacy skills. But literacy skills are just as important to me anyway so i don't think there's anything wrong with making sure kids on the right track in certain subjects. You just have to find that balance.
I always felt i was more creative than intelligent. Not that I'm dumb or anything, but that i was just that creative and innovative. But class never nurtured that really and since i realized that i wasn't ever going to be really using this creativity i kind of put it aside. And without the stimulation of my creativity i felt school became just a bore. So if we can find ways to nurture kids creativity better, maybe they would be more interested in going and staying in school.

"Harness your studnets' digital smarts" by Vicki Davis states that every student has the ability to learn. It's harder on them to when there's only paper and pencil though. In her classroom she tries to get her students to be comfortable with every form of technology. She encourages students to be thinkers and not rely no her to do or tell them all the answers. With the help of technology, her students are not only learning but putting what they're learning to use.
Watching this video, i will admit i was very jealous of her students. They seem to being doing things in their classrooms that I have never even seen before and i'm a sophmore in college. They're learning to interact with eachother and people over the world and i can gurantee that it will payoff for those students in the long-run. Only obstacle with getting more students and classrooms to incorporate technology is the cost and it's sad to because it could do wonders for kids.

1st Post

This is my first post